The Sensory Link
by xinaidebenihime
Summary: After Tenrou is released from Mavis' preservation spell, Gray finds Juvia nursing a large gash on her thigh—a large wound in an all too familiar place to him—and asks her what happened. Gruiva Fluff. OneShot.


_**A/N:** Now this idea came to me about a month ago, and I'm just now putting pen to paper. I've never written Gruvia—I absolutely adore them together though...I love how their relationship has unfolded over the series—but thought that this little drabble was cute._

 _Enjoy!_

 _ **Pair(s):** Gruvia_

 _ **Rating:** K+ - mild language_

 _ **Summary:** After Tenrou is released from Mavis' preservation spell, Gray finds Juvia nursing a large gash on her thigh—a large wound in an all too familiar place to him—and asks her what happened._

 ** _Word Count:_** _1,023_

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His mind was foggy.

Gray sat up, cradling his head in his hands as he waited for the world to stop spinning. The last thing he remembered, everyone in the guild was holding hands...and now...

Where the hell was he?

The trees surrounding him were knocked over, roots ripped straight out of the ground. Towering high overhead, the sheer magnitude of force that would be needed to pull those massive tendrils from the dirt was extreme.

Yet it had been done.

What the hell happened?

Regaining his sense of balance, Gray pulled himself to his feet, shuffling in the opposite direction the tree was facing. Whatever had blown it over would have a point of origin, and finding that would be a good start to seeing where everyone was.

Hit with a wave of dizziness, Gray covered his eyes for a moment, pushing at the pressure from the inside of his skull as he started to walk. He felt his foot catch on something and he fell forward, barely managing to catch himself and avoid breaking his face.

Craning his neck around to look at the culprit behind his fall, Gray came face to face with his second oldest nemesis—the first being Deliora—and glared ice daggers at it.

 _Fucking shirt._

Gray snatched the cloth from the ground, balling it up in a messy wad and willing it to disappear. It was too damn hot out for clothes, why the hell did he have to wear them again?

Oh yeah, so the flame brain couldn't call him an exhibitionist.

 _Damn pyro._

Cursing Natsu's name, Gray resumed his shuffling, this time with a soundtrack of muttered curses as he looked around for other signs of life.

A flash of blue caught his eye.

It was rare for Gray to be the one looking for Juvia...in fact, aside from his last battle he couldn't remember when he'd ever sought her out before. But at seeing that flash of blue, before he could even register in his mind what it could be, his feet pulled him in that direction.

Peeking around a large tree, the blue-haired water mage was sitting on the ground, hands pressing into her left thigh. Blood seeped through her fingers as she continued to apply pressure, biting her lip.

"Juvia?"

Her head snapped up as she noticed him for the first time. Eyes wide, she moved to cover the large gash and force a smile, "Gray-sama!"

Gaze narrowed, Gray kneeled down next to her, "Juvia, what are you doing?"

She began to stutter.

"N-nothing! Juvia is doing nothing. Juvia was just fixing her dress so she could get up and look for Gray-sama!" her head tilted to one side. "But Gray-sama found Juvia first! That makes Juvia very happy!"

Ignoring her obvious attempt at lying, Gray reached out and pulled her hands away from her thigh. Bleeding heavily—though it looked like it had slowed some since the wound was initially inflicted—the gash was nasty, and it was deep. What was more disturbing than the severity of the wound, was the fact Juvia had a wound at all. Her body was made of water, it didn't retain injury.

...unless this was self inflicted.

A dull pain ghosted in his thigh, briefly.

And suddenly it clicked.

"Juvia...did you do this to yourself? Does this have anything to do with the pain I was in when I was looking for Ul?"

The bluenette met Gray's eyes tentatively before she covered her face with her hands, smearing her own blood on her face. Trying and failing to hide her tears from Gray, Juvia cried, so ashamed of herself for having hurt her beloved, even if he'd been left with no real physical injury.

"Juvia is so sorry, Gray-sama! She had to! In order to save Gray-sama, and stop Meredy-chan, Juvia had to." Curling more into herself, Juvia's shame only deepened.

Feeling warm fingers bend her leg, Juvia peeked out from between her hands.

Gray was ripping a large chunk of cloth from his shirt. Staring at him wide-eyed as he held out the strip of fabric, Juvia was at a loss for words.

"Can you clean this?"

Blinking, Juvia nodded, forming a small orb of water around the cloth to pull out any dirt before returning it to Gray clean and dry.

Tenderly, Gray wrapped the cloth around her thigh and tied the ends. Glancing up at Juvia from underneath his bangs, Gray waited until he had her attention.

"This is going to hurt," he said softly, "are you ready?"

Nodding, Juvia bit her lip, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the tree. Preparing herself for the ache of pressure upon the would, Juvia waited in anticipation.

Warm fingers intertwined with her own.

Eyes flashing open, Juvia looked down incredulously at her hand enveloped in the palm of her love. Redirecting her gaze to him, she smiled as he grabbed the end on the outside of her thigh with his teeth, and the other with his free hand.

Pulling the makeshift bandage tight, Gray winced internally as he saw her expression change from elation to pain. Regretting the fact that his actions had done this to her, he tightened his grip on her hand in a gesture of comfort.

She'd hurt herself, badly, to save him. This wasn't just an infatuation as he had assumed in the past, if it was she wouldn't go nearly this far...she really cared for him.

Why though? What was so special about him?

He watched as Juvia's expression turned from one of pain to one of rest. Her brow smoothed out, her cheeks relaxed, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. The blood on her face was a stark contrast to her pale skin and bright hair, and yet her smile still shone.

"Thank you Gray-sama," she whispered.

Looking at the woman before him, relaxed and content as she was, Gray couldn't help but admire her strength and determination.

And really—he had to admit—in every sense of the word...as a person and as she appeared...

...she was really quite beautiful.

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 _Feedback is always appreciated! Even if it's only a word or two :)_

 _\- xinaidebenihime_


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